Shoppers look for after-Christmas deals at Ventura County malls

ROB VARELA/THE STAR
Lori Shlagman of Johannesburg, South Africa, checks out a shoe as she shops the day after Christmas in the Nine West store at the Camarillo Premium Outlets Thursday.

Ventura County Star

ROB VARELA/THE STAR
Sales clerk Alexis Luna (right) helps Manda Malaekeh (cq) of Woodland Hills, and her daughter Asal (left) as they shop at the Ugg Australian boots store the day after Christmas at the Camarillo Premium Outlets Thursday. The store was offering an after-Christmas sale of 30-40 percent off on the majority of their stock.

Ventura County Star

ROB VARELA/THE STAR
People look for deals as they shop the day after Christmas at the Camarillo Premium Outlets Thursday.

Ventura County Star

ROB VARELA/THE STAR
Anna Martirosyan of Van Nuys, checks out a boot, some of which were on sale for 70 percent off, as she shops the day after Christmas in the Nine West store at the Camarillo Premium Outlets Thursday.

Ventura County Star

ROB VARELA/THE STAR
The Van Huesen Direct store offered some items for 80 percent off as people shopped the day after Christmas at the Camarillo Premium Outlets Thursday.

Ventura County Star

Retailers throughout Ventura County opened early and marked down prices Thursday hoping to attract after-Chrismas shoppers.

But most bargain hunters seemed to get off to a slow start, giving early birds a chance to shop for deals without long lines or big crowds.

Veteran shopper Terrie Cilley, of Newbury Park, skips the rush of shoppers on the day after Thanksgiving.

“I just do day after Christmas,” said Cilley, who started early at Macy’s and J.C. Penney at The Oaks in Thousand Oaks. “Good coupons, and good sales. And, my family all knows it, so they all give me gift cards.”

“This is my present,” she said, several bags in her hands.

By late morning and early afternoon, the scene had changed in many shopping spots, as parking lots filled and turnout grew.

Ken and Vanessa Wingo waited on a sidewalk at the Camarillo Premium Outlets about 11:30 a.m., as Vanessa’s daughter drove around the crowded lot looking for a parking spot.

“This is crazy,” said Vanessa Wingo.

The couple from Colorado Springs didn’t do a lot of shopping pre-Christmas, Ken said. In the area visiting Vanessa’s daughter in Thousand Oaks, they decided to seek out some bargains at the outlets on Thursday.

“We’re out here and the sun is shining, and it’s not 15 below,” said Ken Wingo, recalling the freezing temperatures at home two weeks ago.

It’s too early to say how Thursday’s sales will compare to past years. But ShopperTrak, which tracks data at 40,000 retail locations, predicted after-holiday markdowns would drive retail sales and store traffic the day after Christmas and on Saturday.

Many people who have the day after Christmas off work will be out shopping for end-of-season deals, according to said Bill Martin, co-founder of ShopperTrak.

Deals are better the day after Christmas, said Scott Baxter, of Moorpark. “I don’t care what anybody says,” he said. “Hands down, today’s your day.”

“I kind of stake everything out. I know where things are and know what the prices are,” he said. “I say, ‘OK if that’s still here when I come back, then I’ll get it.”

He’s a regular on the day-after Christmas. “Today’s my ‘me day,’ as they say,” he said, holding a bag of calendars inside The Oaks Thursday.

A design engineer, he works in a cubicle. The calendars provide much-needed decorations, he said. “I always have a theme. In 2015, I’m going to Paris. So I got some Paris calendars. Keep my dream alive.”

For sisters Kelly Pena and Pam Litten and their mom Dodie Reed, all of Camarillo, shopping at The Oaks on Dec. 26 has been a tradition going on 10 years.

“This is what we do for Christmas. My mom doesn’t get us gifts. She takes us to the after-Christmas sales every year,” Pena said.

They can get more stuff during the after-Christmas sales than before, Reed said. “And, it’s just fun. Just three of us get to go every year. It’s a bonding time for us.”

The mall was quiet. But it was still quite early, Reed said.

“It’s very different when we first started doing it. It would be hard to find a parking spot,” Litten said. “Now, I don’t think there’s that same rush.”

Crystal Drake of Ventura lined up early at the H&M store at the Pacific View mall in Ventura

As one of the first in line when the store opened shortly after 9 a.m., Drake got a scratch-off coupon.

“I’m looking for good deals — pants, clothes and wrapping paper,” she said.

The mall got off to a slow start early Thursday. By noon, however, traffic was backed up and people seemed to be making up for lost time.

Rissa Santos, manager of the Royale USA kiosk at the mall, said sales were good during the holiday season.

“It’s been amazing,” Santos said. “Usually we do up to $1,000 in sales in a day and the other day we did $3,000.” Sigrid Stokes, of Pacific Grove, was visiting Ventura over the holidays to spend time with her children and grandchildren.

At the mall Thursday, she said she wasn’t much of a shopper. But a green blouse bordered in blue with birds printed in a pattern proved too nice to resist.

“It was 40 percent off at Macy’s,” she said.

Correspondent Anne Kallas and The Associated Press contributed to this report.